anarchic
Americanadjective
-
of, like, or tending to anarchy.
-
advocating anarchy.
-
not regulated by law; lawless.
Anarchic bands pillaged the countryside.
Other Word Forms
- anarchically adverb
- hyperanarchic adjective
- nonanarchic adjective
- nonanarchical adjective
- nonanarchically adverb
- proanarchic adjective
- unanarchic adjective
Etymology
Origin of anarchic
First recorded in 1780–90; either from French anarchique or anarch(y) + -ic
Explanation
Something that's anarchic is out of control or extremely disorganized. An anarchic classroom has no rules — it most likely has no teacher, either. Wars and political conflicts are frequently described as anarchic, particularly if they appear to be lawless and chaotic. Any situation that's lacking structure or rules can be called anarchic, like a wild, sugar-fueled birthday party or an anarchic swarm of gulls attacking a plate of French fries on a picnic table. The Greek root word is anarkhos, "without head or chief."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Shot on a handheld digital camera, the film applies an anarchic home-movie aesthetic to a superbly performed, discomfitingly comic drama of darkness within a family.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025
The vibe is exuberant and anarchic and very much in tempo with the joy-craving fatalism of today.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 12, 2025
Due to its liberating and anarchic nature, there is a consensus that Burning Man symbolizes the legacy of the socially libertarian spirit of the 1960s counterculture.
From Salon • Oct. 27, 2025
Berlin became a pumping techno and rave hub in the years following the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, as an anarchic counterculture moved into abandoned industrial sites to create music, dance and art spaces.
From Barron's • Oct. 16, 2025
High school is neither a democracy nor a dictatorship—nor, contrary to popular belief, an anarchic state.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
